Tales on the Road to New Lives
by Auron Belmont
Summary: DQ VIII: Now seventh in a continuing series. End game spoilers. The party saves the world...what do they do now? Chapter 4: Finding a home. Complete!
1. Exhaustion

Akagi is the name of the Hero

Akagi staggered down the hallways of Trodain Castle. Every few moments, a guard or a citizen of the castle stopped to shake his hand or touch his shoulder. It's as though everyone needed a physical touch of the one who'd never given up on their land. Akagi privately thought they really should reserve such open expressions of gratitude for their king and princess. It was they who bore the worst in the form of a curse. All he did was fight for them.

_I probably shouldn't have drank to so many toasts to everything in the courtyard. Ooohhhh…I think I'm a little drunk. Yangus did say I was always such a lightweight. _He giggled a bit. But maybe it didn't matter. They WON. They were free. The curse was lifted. Light filtered through the grand stained glass windows of the front hall. People breathed and set about cleaning up the destruction, be it setting new stones in the floor or sweeping up debris and decay with a broom. There was hope where there once had been none.

I have to find the princess…maybe once my head clears. I want to have a long conversation with her where neither of us have to pack everything into a few moments. Maybe we'll just sit somewhere and watch the clouds roll by and tell everything that needs telling. Yes. I'll do that.

The guardsman took a breather and leaned against the sturdy wall of the castle. Other people in much worse states of drunkenness than his own snored off their excesses in alcoves. Some preferred sprawling on the floor, laughing and singing snatches of song. One, in particular, made Akagi smile.

"Hey, Angelo. I thought you had the strongest stomach of all of us. Did you try drinking a whole keg yourself?" This was directed to the man in red curled on floor, his gray hair unbound from its usual ponytail. But the Templar didn't snore like a drunk.

"Angelo?" Staggering a little closer, Akagi heard an uneven rasp of breath. "Are you all right?" He brushed away the curtain of hair.

Sobriety smacked Akagi in the gut. Angelo's skin retained the same pallor as his hair. His blue eyes darted about, pupils contracted with fear. He tried to speak, but could not work around the rasp.

_Why is he..? _Images of the last battle came unbidden. All of them being beaten down repeatedly, but Angelo retaliating with every healing spell in his arsenal. That evil ball on Rhapthorne's scepter crashing into their bodies with force to break bones. The spells of heat and ice and blistering pain and through it all, the Templar kept chanting and kept them alive.

_He's exhausted and his body's quitting on him. _Whispering words of healing, Akagi placed his hand over Angelo's chest. Alarmed when nothing seemed to happen, Akagi repeated the same words over and over. On the seventh cast, a trace of color returned to the Templar's skin.

Angelo's lips quirked into a small smile. "I don't think…the cheese will work…this time."

Grunting with effort, Akagi slung Angelo's arm around his shoulders. His body trembled trying to support nearly all of the Templar's dead weight. "Angelo, put some weight on your feet."

"Everything's floating and half there. This is so strange," Angelo said, looking fascinated. "Heh, it's like the time we were swimming in the memory of the ocean. I can see the shades of fish all colors of the rainbow."

Pressed so close to his friend, Akagi could feel the heat pouring from him. _He's hallucinating. _As they walked together down the hall, toward where Akagi recalled there being a small guest room, fear dogged his steps. When Angelo had told his story on the road to Argonia, he'd revealed a terrible secret. A chronic illness related to fatigue plagued his life and drove him to exhaustion quicker than most men. But their party accepted it and found ways to work around it. All of them, Angelo included, forgot about it as their quest dragged on week by week, city by city, fight by fight. Until now.

"Akagi! My father needs you out in the…oh!" Princess Medea abruptly ran into the two of them. Her expression flitted to shock before settling on something calmer. "What do you need me to do?"

Now this was the princess he knew. Not easily shaken and quick to take charge. "Get your father and the others. Find a healer and do it quickly!" A swish of skirts and the princess left.

"The fish all shimmer like jewels in the sunshine. Can't you see them?" Angelo rasped.

"Of course I do," Akagi soothed. "There's just so many, I don't know where to look." This seemed to pacify the larger man as the guardsman kicked open the door to the guest room. Still half-carrying the Templar, Akagi kicked the sheets and blanket further down the bed and gently lay his companion on its surface. "There. I bet you can see a lot of them from there, can't you, Angelo?"

"Mmmhmmm." His eyes darted this way and that, no more in fear, but tracking the paths of fish only visible inside his mind.

"Guv! The 'orse…I mean th' princess says Angelo's real bad, yeah? Oh bloody 'ell," Yangus cursed, looking surprised.

"Help me loosen his clothes, Yangus."

The ex-bandit did so, not without some cringing as he had to touch the Templar. _I hope Red never hears I had to help undress a bloke. You owe me, archer boy._

"Goddess," Jessica swore as she sprinted into the room. "I ought to stove his brains in since he obviously doesn't USE them for anything." She clasped his hand and whispered a very weakened version of a Crack spell. Angelo sighed in relief and closed his eyes.

"Didn't think it'd end up like this, guv," Yangus said, rubbing his hands nervously. The last time all of them were waiting around someone's bedside, it'd been Jessica sound asleep and Angelo leaning against the doorway. Not now.

"Reality certainly has a way of butting in," Akagi said. "Now that I'm not celebrating or trying to fight something, I feel just as exhausted."

Jessica and Yangus lowered their gazes. It had indeed been a hard won fight. One for the ages as they propelled above the world fighting the Lord of Darkness. Their bodies recalled the miles walked, the injuries received, the many times they pushed aside their physical comforts to just keep going.

It was much to Trode and Medea's surprise, along with the castle healers, they found Angelo deeply asleep in the bed, skin flushed with fever, but the bodies of his companions all slumbering against the bed's frame.

"Don't wake them, my dear," Trode said quietly. "They've earned it."


	2. Alexandria

Akagi felt peculiar dread building in his stomach. Was it really necessary to go through all of this? Where everyone could see? He supposed he owed it to King Trode. After all, it wasn't every day your life got altered drastically. That would happen in a few hours when everyone would get ready.

For now, he decided re-reading the letters of his friends would help calm the nervous butterflies inside. He wanted to write a book about their adventures so when they were all old, the memories that would eventually fade in their minds would stay fresh in the pages of a tome. It was odd to start at the end, but Akagi hoped he could piece the narratives together into a cohesive whole. Eventually.

First, what happened to Jessica… 

Jessica fingered the coiled whip on her belt and tried not to let the bouncing of the cart affect her too much. The winding path of the cart driver should put her at the entrance to Alexandria by the end of the day.

During the journey with her friends, Jessica climbed mountains, sailed seas, flew to places never touched by man or beast. In the traveling, the mage realized the potential for going anywhere and doing anything. She even mentioned at one time she wouldn't mind living near the Monster Arena to be a trainer. But strangely, a lengthy conversation with Angelo changed her mind. Or at least put off the decision to live elsewhere.

"_Are you serious about living near the Monster Areana?" Angelo had asked her one sunny day in the courtyard of Trodain._

"_Maybe. I'm not sure. There are a lot of places I could end up. The world's a large place, choir boy." Jessica lied on the grass, eyes closed and perfectly happy with the world at that moment._

"_That's certain." He paused for so long the mage opened her eyes and squinted at him._

"_Were you going to add something?"_

"_Just collecting my thoughts, my friend," he murmured apologetically. "But I wonder is, in the middle of all your thoughts of world travel, where does your mother fit into it?"_

"_What?" The question seemed like such a non sequitor, she looked at him strangely. "What would my mother have anything to do with traveling?"_

"_Were you going to tell her you weren't coming back? Maybe in a note, perhaps? Seems a bit offhand, wouldn't you say? 'Sorry mum, haven't seen you in ages, won't see you for ages more, living elsewhere, love Jessica'?"_

"_You forget, you weren't there for that episode with my mum. Honestly, I can't stand her."_

_The Templar had snorted. "I could say the same about YOU on some occasions, Jessica. Let's be frank in that we've all had our days we got on each other's nerves, but we eventually brushed it aside."_

_Jessica's ire began building at that point. Angelo could do that easily with her and the opposite also held true. "You thought I could be annoying? The same holds true for you!"_

"_I never said it didn't. I'm saying that people we're close to WILL get on your nerves. But we should give them a chance to put themselves to right. She's your mum, Jess. On some level, parents are always annoying. It's their job."_

"_Why are you defending someone you don't even know?!"_

_Angelo's steely gaze silenced any more angry retorts. "Because. If I had just a chance to talk with my mother again, even if it were one last time, I would take it. You have all kinds of opportunity to connect with your mum and you're throwing it away based on an argument you had long ago. You have a chance to at least try and make things right._

"_If you throw this chance away, you're just selfish."_

Hearing a lesson on selfishness from the prince of narcissism himself nearly made her spit at his pretty face. But, after some time calming down and thinking about his words, Jessica grudgingly realized he had a point.

The mage looked behind her. The tower of Alexandria soared above the landscape. The familiar thrill of it reminded her of a thousand days of traveling this road and knowing home was almost there. With not even a sting of tears anymore, she could recall holding Alistair's hand and pointing to the tower.

Her heart leapt. There was the tree she climbed at the age of seven. The wall for the town drew near. And soon, bidding the cart driver farewell, she looked at the entrance to the town.

"Miss Jessica! Miss Jessica!" squealed two high pitched voices.

"Bangerz! Mash!" Now with a sting of tears in her eyes, she knelt down and hugged the two boys. "Oh, I've missed you so much!"

"Miss Jessica is here! She's returned!"

Now all the mage could do was stand there and received the greetings and fair wishes of the people of her town. People she never even talked to stopped to say hello. There was cheering and even talk of an impromptu feast.

_All this, just for me? Not even because I'm part of a ruling family. Just because I'm…me. And they missed me._

"Rhapthorne is no more! He won't harm our village and our world any longer!"

Somehow in that bold declaration, the villagers decided it meant lifting her on their shoulders and parading her around town, up the hill and to the manor. Jessica's elation faltered as her mother stood in the doorway, arms crossed in front of her chest. "What a thoughtless child. You can't have a feast out there. It's going to rain soon." Her mother smiled. "We shall have it indoors. Come on, you lot! We're celebrating my daughter coming home!"

Much, much later, Jessica curled herself into her old bed. Too many glasses of wine would probably give her a pounding headache in the morning, but now she floated on feeling.

Not much had been said with her mom between the feasting and the drinking, but a softness lingered there that hadn't existed before. Knowing her mom would also be nursing a hangover, perhaps later in the afternoon would be the chance to have a good long chat about this and that.

"Everyone, this is my daughter, Jessica, and she helped save our village!" 

For the rest of her life, she would hear the roar of the crowd after her mother yelled out those words. And feel the burning kisses of many an adoring man wanting to give her congratulations. Especially one. One of her brother's younger friends, a lad by the name of Harper. She'd had a bit of a crush on him as a young girl, but never did anything on it. Now, he seemed to be quite intent on getting to know her better. And why not?

_Right. Maybe the next day, after the talk with mum, I'll see if I can't have a friendly chat with Harper._ It was a start anyway. To what, she didn't know. But it felt like a good start.

Something else she'd have to thank the Templar for.

"_Angelo, mate, you eva' think of settlin' down with one lady?" Yangus asked him while the four of them settled for their last evening in Trodain together, drinking wine and eating a fine meal._

"_I sincerely doubt it," he replied, patting a napkin over his lips._

"_Why's that?" Akagi asked, curious._

"_Think you'll be disappointing all the ladies in the world if you stick with just one?" Jessica teased him._

"_Well, it's just something I've thought about for a long, long time." Thoughtful, he swirled his wine glass and sipped. "When you want to stay with just one lady, usually that involves marriage or at least strict promises to stay with her and her alone. All of my encounters with women have been brief, to be sure, or just mere flirtations for fun. I enjoy all kinds of women._

"_If I were to promise one woman I'd be hers alone, it'd mean no more lurid encounters. No more flirting with the ladies for fun. Right now, if I promised a woman I'd be hers alone, eventually I would break that promise because in all honesty, I adore and love the chase and the flirtation." He shrugged. "So then, because I couldn't help myself I would break my promise with her and wound my lady deeply. What kind of man would that make me?"_

"_But what if you met someone you really thought seriously about?" Jessica pressed him._

"_Well, even then, I might be afraid to do anything. My father made promises and vows to my mother and broke them. Because of that, it caused years of anguish to me and my brother. I know what a broken promise does to people. If I didn't feel in my heart that I could fulfill those promises for all my days, I wouldn't say them."_

It certainly made her think. Something mutual did grow between them during the long journey, but Angelo put it into perspective in their goodbyes to each other. "Jessica, you're a lovely woman. I'm a lovely man. We'd overpower the world together. It would be interesting…but you deserve the kind of man you don't have to wonder if they're keeping their word to you. See if there isn't someone out there you can make a start with, even if it's something small. Let it grow."

The rejection, if it was one, had stung her pride a little, but now, back in her bed in Alexandria, seemed wise. Harper was no gambler or wencher, but a kind man. Perhaps a bit quiet, but that wasn't a bad thing entirely.

Certain events made more sense, considering the farewell letters Akagi packed with her things. You could rail at the Goddess for things that weren't fair or be thankful you had time to fix things while you could.

Jessica, safe in her room, realized her place remained here in her home.

To be continued…


	3. Red

_Right then, about Yangus…_

The ex-bandit fingered the purse at his belt nervously. Not that anyone would be stupid enough to steal from a man of his formidable stature and reputation, mind you. Walking into Red's hideout tended to make him forget all that stature and reputation. Even the ribald cheers of her fellow thieves didn't put a dent in Yangus' fear. He had a feeling he was proposing something stupid.

"Well, hello there," Red drawled from her rocking chair near the fire. "I'm gonna guess you was a winnah in that fight."

"Blimey, Red, it was a knock-down drag out fight! If any one of us wasn't there for the otha, we wouldn't have won against that bastard," Yangus said quickly. "Ya flail came in real handy. Um, I know it was a loaner, so I'm givin' it back to you ya all fair and square."

"Right. Thanks." The thief lord eyed her weapon with a practiced eye. Grunting in satisfaction, she stowed it on a shelf. "That all you came here for, Yangus?"

"I was thinkin' an' I know that ain't my strong point, but I was thinkin' about a propositionin' that I'd need help to pull off." Yangus looked up warily at her. "You want I should keep goin' or should I be off?"

Red settled back into her chair. "Keep goin', hatchet man."

"Right. Well, I was thinkin', with all the travelin' with the guv durin' our adventure, I got to look at the different towns. What some people need and some have too much of, right? So, why not try tradin' everywhere?"

The thief lord snorted. "Are you suggestin' I go straight? Are ya daft?"

Yangus scratched his nose nervously. "You got the ships and I got the memory in my brainbox. We could split it evenly. Think of it, Red! All the travel and goin' ta new places without worryin' about law enforcement no more."

"I only got so many people, Yangus. Tradin' company needs a lot of workers."

"Pickham's got people lookin' for work. Havin' all those thieves in one spot might be dicey for business, but who's gonna steal from US?"

Red chuckled. "Got a point. I'll think about it. Meanwhile, stick around. Me and the boys will have a round in ya honah. Ya can try winnin' them over with ya plan."

Yangus knew his plan would take back-breaking work. But after traveling the world and fighting the Lord of Darkness, he'd gladly accept it.

_At this point in time, Yangus and Red are still putting their trading empire together, otherwise I'd write more._

Akagi reflected he'd have to rewrite these stories thoroughly. The trilling laughter of ladies-in-waiting made him gulp for what would happen in a little while.

_But now, let me talk about my friend Angelo…_


	4. Finding a Home

The wine swirled in a lazy spiral inside his goblet. The Templar made no motion to drink his beverage, but merely watched it circle around. The last rays of sunset lit up the restaurant's outdoor patio. The casino beckoned a few streets down, its lights starting to flicker on.

In fact, it was a fine twilight in the town of Baccarat. But Angelo paid it no attention. His blue eyes were unfocused with inner thought. He supposed he should get himself a room at the inn, but couldn't dredge up the willpower to do even that. To be blunt, he was at a loss.

Unlike his companions, now safely back to their homes, Angelo didn't have a hometown anymore. Maella Abbey, even without Marcello as captain, was no longer open to him. On a whim, he picked Baccarat, hoping the bright lights and the thrill of gambling would jumpstart his sense of purpose to do something. Anything.

He certainly could have lived anywhere with his friends, but he didn't want to burden them. Especially now.

"_He has to hang up his bow?!" Jessica exclaimed at the healer._

"_It can't have been that bad, yeah?" Yangus asked uncertainly._

"_It is that bad, I'm afraid." Roland, the healer, shook his head sadly. "I seem to always give you bad news, Angelo. I'm just fortunate I got the word from King Trode you were resting up here."_

_Angelo said nothing, sitting in his sickbed and staring at the pattern of the comforter. What could he possibly say to deny the healer? That no, his body would recover and he'd be allowed to be healer and archer once again? Instead, he let the awful truth sink into his bones._

"_His condition is bad enough he can't even be a healer?" Akagi asked quietly._

"_Not under the continued strain his body's been through. Angelo, in all honesty, I'm amazed you're still alive after the brutality of some of the fights your friends have described to me. As it is, you've drastically cut down your stamina. Fighting and healing arts are forbidden to you if you want to maintain your health."_

"_I understand," the Templar replied woodenly._

He understood a lot more than that when the healer elaborated after his friends left. _Goddess. What am I supposed to do with myself now? With no home and no purpose? Goddess. What do I do?_

Occupied with his wine, it took the man a second or two to sense the featherlight touch of hands on his carrybag. Lightning quick, he snatched the hand of a startled child. "What do you think you're doing?" he snarled. The child, a first impression of tangled hair and dirty skin, trembled in his grip, but made no noise. "I asked you a question," Angelo repeated with soft venom.

"I…I were stealin', my lord," the child, a boy, whimpered.

"And why, pray tell, were you trying to pick my purse?"

"I'm…I'm hungry. I got nofin to eat in forevah," the child said simply, trying to pull up loose raggedy trousers with his rope belt. "Don't…don't hurt me. I'll go."

Angelo's expression of anger melted. _"Is this all you have?" the teen asked with concern. "Don't worry, you're safe now." _His gloved hand released the boy's thin wrist. "Sit."

"Sit?"

"Yes. Sit on that chair there and I'll order you food." Looking even more uncertain, the child pulled himself onto the café chair and tried not to touch anything. "Do you do this often? Stealing for money?"

"I…Only when I can't steal food."

"Don't you have any parents?" Angelo asked, although he already knew the answer.

"No, sir." The boy cringed at the looks at all the other restaurant goers and at the waiter, who looked none too pleased to serve a dirty little thief. "Is…can I really eat?"

"Go ahead." Angelo glared at everyone around their table, creating a shield of protection with his gaze alone. _"What is your name, little one?" "Angelo." _"What is your name, child?"

Chomp, chomp, chomp, gulp! "Vin, my lord! Yer right peculiar, feeding someone who tried to lift ya."

"I appear to be in that sort of mood, Vin." Angelo drank deeply from his glass. For some reason, the wine seemed refreshing. Or perhaps because he badly needed it in relief. No scene of ugliness would follow the giving of a name. "Now then, we need to discuss your situation." Half-formed ideas curled in his brain.

"My…what?" Vin asked, half a chicken leg shoved into his mouth.

"Goddess, use silverware, would you? As I was saying, you're a young lad without a home. Given you live in Baccarat, I can take a guess why you're homeless. Was it debt or something along those lines?"

Vin's face fell. "They didn't have no more money for me. And they just left without sayin nofin'."

"Goddess." Like the clarity of a shot arrow, his thoughts focused. "Well, I know exactly how to prevent that from happening again."

"How's that?"

"_Young Angelo, I know that you wonder what your purpose is in life. And I know you wonder why your brother torments you. Sometimes the Goddess gives us these trials and we know not why. If we're lucky, we find out while we're living. If not, she'll tell us once we meet her. But what you should always remember is, one day you'll be a man and like your brother, someone will come to you begging your help. Perhaps you can learn from what happened and pick a different course."_

"I'm going to have a word with the management of that casino. Then, I'll need your help. I'm sure there are other children without parents, are there not?"

Vin gulped down his water. "Well yeah. But, why do you want to know who they are?"

Angelo grinned. "Well, if I'm going to find homes for them, I need to first find the children, don't I?"

_Later on, I heard Angelo had a shouting match with Cash and Karry about what their casino was doing to families. I have no idea what words he used, but they must have been persuasive indeed. He runs an orphanage in Baccarat inside a large house generously donated by the casino. He appears to be turning his charm on the ladies for the sake of finding homes for children. It's not what I would have pictured him doing, but in a way, it makes sense, as his life's been defined by a single moment. It might be his way of finally winning over the memory of his brother._

_And as for myself…I'm nervous. I'm going to meet all these people again soon. For you see, _

"Akagi, your lady awaits you!" shouted a voice outside his room.

Akagi shuddered and adjusted the tie on his formal wear.

_I'm about to be married to my beloved Medea. I just wish I wouldn't have to put up with everyone staring at me! And I hope I don't fumble my vows. Well, here goes nothing…_


End file.
